Photo Credit: Breonny Lee
BY Taylor Adams Cogan
Born in McKinney and raised in Plano and Garland, Keisha Hunter admits she’s “from the ‘burbs.” But it didn’t take long for her to find her way to Deep Ellum — first as a young adult club-hopping in the early 2000s, and soon after, as an artist making her own mark on the scene.
“I’m 44 now, but I remember one of those cycles — everything’s good, then there’s crime, then everything shuts down, then it comes back again,” she says. “This was one of those times when you could just go from club to club, hanging out, having a good time.”
Her first connection to Deep Ellum came through music. She sings. She raps. She performs. After graduating from college in Houston in 2001, she came back to the Dallas area in 2002 and dove straight into our local music scene. One of her earliest gigs was with an established band called One Night Stand, and she’d find herself plugged into a creative community centered around 2826 Arnetic. That former corner spot at Malcolm X Boulevard and Elm Street was where she started performing live and meeting the people who’d help shape her journey.
Her first professional music video, My Shoes, was filmed there under her stage name Mokah Soulfly. “People still know me from that video,” she says.
Keisha performed all over Deep Ellum — at Trees, the Prophet Bar, the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, and with collectives like Art Love Magic and Girl Show.
“Outside of partying, it was performing at multiple venues. I was definitely in the mix of what was happening in Deep Ellum,” she says.
About four years ago, she wrapped up a chapter with Galaxy Nine Productions, an event production company she helped run for several years. They produced shows at Trees and the Nines, bringing in old-school hip-hop legends like Slick Rick, Das EFX, Onyx, Yo-Yo, and Rah Digga — and they always made space for a couple of local openers.
“I understand how exposure works,” she says. “What an opportunity it is to say you opened up for a big name.”
When she talks about Deep Ellum’s music scene, there’s reverence in her voice — not just for the place, but for the people who have passed through it.
“People forget that so many amazing artists came from Dallas. Grammys left and right,” she says, listing names like RC & The Gritz, Norah Jones, and, of course, Erykah Badu. “When I was performing heavily, I’d see these artists all the time — at the Freeman, or just around. They’re out there performing with Jill Scott, and you wouldn’t even know it.”
Keisha still sings, raps, and believes in the power of sharing a stage and a story. Her daughter danced in high school, and every now and then, Keisha will take the mic again, even if it’s just once or twice a year.
As for Deep Ellum, she says a statement that’s not unfamiliar to neighbors: “It’ll always be a part of me.”
